Shropshire Star

Grant the key to unlock housing land

Developers say a £9.3 million grant from government for road improvements will open the way for hundreds of new homes on the edge of a market town.

Published
The masterplan for the J Ross development site

The housing infrastructure fund grant for Oswestry was today welcomed by planning consultants acting for a company that wants to build around 550 new homes close to the town's bypass.

It said it hopes a planning application that has been held up by Highways England concerns over traffic can now go before Shropshire councillors within weeks.

The multi-million pound grant will improve two roundabouts and build a third.

J Ross Developments submitted a planning application for the land off Shrewsbury Road in January 2017.

No decision has been made on the proposal more than a year later.

Consultants, Lambert, Smith, Hampton, say the government grant should answer questions that have been posed by Highways England.

Paul Shuker, a director of Lambert, Smith, Hampton, said the hold up from the application's submission had been due to concerns about the effect of traffic on the A5/A483 Oswestry bypass.

He said: "The money spent on improvements to the Mile End Roundabout over the past five or so years, was not sufficient, it seems to satisfy concerns about traffic generated from the new housing.

"The government HIF grant will however address those concerns. Given the length of time that this application has taken to be determined with little objection beyond the discussions with Highways England we argue that the proposal represents sustainable development and as such should be approved without delay."

The land is part of the proposed sustainable urban development for Oswestry, part of Shropshire Council's Samdev, the blueprint for future housebuilding in the county.

A masterplan submitted for the JR Developments area has the houses centred around a central green with pedestrian and vehicle links to the town centre and to the nearby leisure centre and industrial estate.

It also allows access to enable a bridge to be built across the bypass to Oswestry's proposed Innovation Park, also expected to be funded by part of the £9.3 million.

The rest of the money will go to improve the Mile End Roundabout and the Whittington Roundabout, and to build a new roundabout on the Shrewsbury road.